Thermalright Archon SB-E Cooler Review

In an attempt to improve the legendary Archon cooler even more, Thermalright made a few minor modifications to their heatsink, provided a new fan and slightly changed the retention mechanism. Let’s find out how good it turned out.

Over two years ago Thermalright released its Archon cooler which left us impressed with its extremely high performance and low noise level. There were no LGA2011 CPUs in late 2010, so the Archon didn’t officially support Intel’s Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and similar CPUs, although you could buy an additional set of fasteners and mount that cooler on an LGA2011 mainboard.

Building on the success of the original Archon, the company unveiled the prototype Archon SB-E we had an opportunity to test in the spring of this year. And this fall Thermalright released the finished version of the Archon SB-E with a slightly modified heatsink and a new fan. Moreover, the SB-E has a different type of fasteners compared to the original Archon. And just recently the Archon SB-E X2 has been introduced, featuring a very useful second fan. We hope to get that version into our hands soon, but today we will focus on the Archon SB-E and will compare it with the legendary Archon as well as with the most efficient air cooler available today.

Technical Specifications and Recommended Pricing

The technical specifications of the new Thermalright Archon SB-E are summed up in the following table side by side with those of a regular Thermalright Archon:

Packaging and Accessories

The cooler and fan are fixed in the box compartments. The accessories are packed into a smaller box. Like many other Thermalright products, the Archon SB-E comes with a universal back-plate, a key, nuts and spacers, documentation, fan fasteners, Thermalright ChillFactor III thermal grease, and a sticker with company logo.

The cooler is manufactured in China. Its recommended price is $79.25, which is the same as the price of the original Archon. The warranty period is 2 years.